Sharing email

ABSTRACT

A trust relationship may be established between a first email user and at least a second email user. At least one email message received by the second user is automatically propagated to the first user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure relates to sharing email and, more particularly, tosharing emails amongst multiple users.

Situations may arise in organizations in which individuals miss keycorrespondences simply because they were not included on an email.Often, the email originator simply forgets to add the person to theemail list or the email originator does not have a clear grasp on whoshould be included on the email list.

Conventional email systems may provide rudimentary workarounds. Forexample, an email recipient can forward the email to the omitted person,who was left off of the email list, or the omitted person, who was leftoff of the email list, may ask the email originator to update the emaillist. Unfortunately, forwarding an email has a point in time benefit andsubsequent emails associated with the original email may not beforwarded to the omitted person, who was left off of the email list.Further, asking the email originator to add recipients to an email listrequires manual interaction and steps.

In situations where an organization manages multiple emails and emailthreads, this situation may be frustrating for the email originator whohas to cope with multiple requests for additions to email lists.Further, while an originally omitted person may review the emailcommunications of another person, this is a manual procedure thatrequires the omitted person to proactively police the emailcommunications of another.

SUMMARY OF DISCLOSURE

In a first implementation, a method includes establishing a trustrelationship between a first email user and at least a second emailuser. At least one email message received by the second user isautomatically propagated to the first user based upon, at least in part,the trust relationship.

According to another implementation, a computer program product resideson a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions on it.When executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor toperform operations including establishing a trust relationship between afirst email user and at least a second email user. At least one emailmessage received by the second user is automatically propagated to thefirst user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.

In another implementation, a computing system includes at least oneprocessor and at least one memory architecture coupled with the at leastone processor. A first software module is executed on the at least oneprocessor and the at least one memory architecture. The first softwaremodule is configured to establish a trust relationship between a firstemail user and at least a second email user. A second software module isexecuted on the at least one processor and the at least one memoryarchitecture. The second software module is configured to automaticallypropagate at least one email message received by the second user to thefirst user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features willbecome apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an email sharing process, an emailclient application and an email server application coupled to adistributed computing network;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic view of a display screen rendered by the emailclient application and/or the email server application of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the email sharing process of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a display screen rendered by the emailsharing process, the email client application and/or the email serverapplication of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a display screen rendered by the emailsharing process, the email client application and/or the email serverapplication of FIG. 1.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program product ona computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer-usable or computer-readable medium may be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, ahard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), anoptical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), anoptical storage device, a transmission media such as those supportingthe Internet or an intranet, or a magnetic storage device. Note that thecomputer-usable or computer-readable medium could even be paper oranother suitable medium upon which the program is printed, as theprogram can be electronically captured, via, for instance, opticalscanning of the paper or other medium, then compiled, interpreted, orotherwise processed in a suitable manner, if necessary, and then storedin a computer memory. In the context of this document, a computer-usableor computer-readable medium may be any medium that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer-usable medium may include a propagated data signal with thecomputer-usable program code embodied therewith, either in baseband oras part of a carrier wave. The computer usable program code may betransmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited tothe Internet, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program codefor carrying out operations of the present invention may also be writtenin conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

The present invention is described below with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown email sharing process 10 that mayreside on and may be executed by server computer 12, which may beconnected to network 14 (e.g., the Internet or a local area network).Examples of server computer 12 may include, but are not limited to: apersonal computer, a server computer, a series of server computers, amini computer, and a mainframe computer. Server computer 12 may be a webserver (or a series of servers) running a network operating system,examples of which may include but are not limited to: Microsoft®Windows® XP Server; Novell® Netware®; or Red Hat® Linux®, for example(Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of MicrosoftCorporation in the United States, other countries, or both; Novell andNetWare are registered trademarks of Novell Corporation in the UnitedStates, other countries, or both; Red Hat is a registered trademark ofRed Hat Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both; andLinux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the United States,other countries, or both).

As will be discussed below in greater detail, email sharing process 10may establish a trust relationship between a first email user and atleast a second email user. At least one email message received by thesecond user may be automatically propagated to the first user basedupon, at least in part, the trust relationship.

The instruction sets and subroutines of email sharing process 10, whichmay be configured as one or more software modules, and which may bestored on storage device 16 coupled to server computer 12, may beexecuted by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into server computer 12. Storagedevice 16 may include but is not limited to: a hard disk drive; a solidstate drive; a tape drive; an optical drive; a RAID array; a randomaccess memory (RAM); and a read-only memory (ROM).

Server computer 12 may execute a web server application, examples ofwhich may include but are not limited to: Microsoft IIS, NovellWebserver™, or Apache® Webserver, that allows for HTTP (i.e., HyperTextTransfer Protocol) access to server computer 12 via network 14(Webserver is a trademark of Novell Corporation in the United States,other countries, or both; and Apache is a registered trademark of ApacheSoftware Foundation in the United States, other countries, or both).Network 14 may be connected to one or more secondary networks (e.g.,network 18), examples of which may include but are not limited to: alocal area network; a wide area network; or an intranet, for example.

Server computer 12 may execute email server application 20, examples ofwhich may include but are not limited to Lotus Domino® Server andMicrosoft Exchange Server® (Domino is a trademark of InternationalBusiness Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, orboth; and Microsoft Exchange Server is a registered trademark ofMicrosoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both).Email server application 20 may be a messaging and collaborationsoftware platform that may allow for user collaboration via email clientapplications 22, 24, 26, 28, examples of which may include but are notlimited to Lotus Notes® and Microsoft Outlook® (Lotus Notes is atrademark of International Business Machines Corporation in the UnitedStates, other countries, or both; and Outlook is a registered trademarkof Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, orboth). Email sharing process 10 may be a stand alone application thatinterfaces with email server application 20 or an applet/applicationthat is executed within email server application 20.

The instruction sets and subroutines of email server application 20,which may be configured as one or more software modules, and which maybe stored on storage device 16 coupled to server computer 12 may beexecuted by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into server computer 12.

While the email sharing process is shown and described as residing on,and being executed by, server computer 12, other implementations mayequally be utilized. For example, the email sharing process may be aclient-side process stored on one or more storage devices (e.g., storagedevices 30, 32, 34, 36) coupled to one or more client electronic devices(e.g., client electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44; respectively). In suchan implementation, the email sharing process may be a stand aloneapplication that interfaces with an email client application (e.g., oneor more of email client application 22, 24, 26, 28) or anapplet/application that is executed within an email client application.As such, the email sharing process may be a server-side process executedon server computer 12, a client-side process executed by one or moreclient electronic device (e.g., one or more of client electronic devices38, 40, 42, 44), or a hybrid client-side/server-side process, executedin part by server computer 12 and one or more client electronic device(e.g., one or more of client electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44).

The instruction sets and subroutines of email client applications 22,24, 26, 28, which may be configured as one or more software modules, andwhich may be stored on storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36 (respectively)coupled to client electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44 (respectively), maybe executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into client electronic devices38, 40, 42, 44 (respectively). Storage devices 30, 32, 34, 36 mayinclude but are not limited to: hard disk drives; solid state drives;tape drives; optical drives; RAID arrays; random access memories (RAM);read-only memories (ROM), compact flash (CF) storage devices, securedigital (SD) storage devices, and memory stick storage devices. Examplesof computing devices 38, 40, 42, 44 may include, but are not limited to,personal computer 38, laptop computer 40, personal digital assistant 42,notebook computer 44, a data-enabled, cellular telephone (not shown),and a dedicated network device (not shown), for example. Using emailclient applications 22, 24, 26, 28, users 46, 48, 50, 52 may accessemail server application 20 and may allow users to e.g., created,receive, and manage email messages.

Users 46, 48, 50, 52 may access email server application 20 directlythrough the device on which the email client application (e.g., emailclient applications 22, 24, 26, 28) is executed, namely clientelectronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44, for example. Users 46, 48, 50, 52 mayaccess email server application 20 directly through network 14 orthrough secondary network 18. Further, server computer 12 (i.e., thecomputer that executes email server application 20) may be connected tonetwork 14 through secondary network 18, as illustrated with phantomlink line 54.

The various client electronic devices may be directly or indirectlycoupled to network 14 (or network 18). For example, personal computer 38is shown directly coupled to network 14 via a hardwired networkconnection. Further, notebook computer 44 is shown directly coupled tonetwork 18 via a hardwired network connection. Laptop computer 40 isshown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communicationchannel 56 established between laptop computer 40 and wireless accesspoint (i.e., WAP) 58, which is shown directly coupled to network 14. WAP58 may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, Wi-Fi, and/orBluetooth device that is capable of establishing wireless communicationchannel 56 between laptop computer 40 and WAP 58. Personal digitalassistant 42 is shown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wirelesscommunication channel 60 established between personal digital assistant42 and cellular network/bridge 62, which is shown directly coupled tonetwork 14.

As is known in the art, all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may useEthernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collisionavoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11xspecifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation orcomplementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. As isknown in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industryspecification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and personaldigital assistants to be interconnected using a short-range wirelessconnection.

Client electronic devices 38, 40, 42, 44 may each execute an operatingsystem, examples of which may include but are not limited to Microsoft®Windows®, Microsoft Windows CE®, Red Hat® Linux®, or a custom operatingsystem (Windows CE is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation inthe United States, other countries, or both).

Referring also to FIG. 2, email client application 22 may allow an emailuser, e.g., user 46, to compose, via visual emailing interface 100,email message 102. Through visual emailing interface 100, user 46 maycompose email message 102 and address email message 102 to one or moreemail users (e.g. user 48, user 50). When composing emails, user 46 mayselect the email users to whom the email is directed. For example, user46 may select, via on-screen pointer 104 (which is controlled by apointing device such as a mouse; not shown), the desired recipients ofemail message 102, e.g., from an address book or corporate directoryassociated with one or more of email client application 22 and emailserver application 20. For example, user 46 may select, via on-screenpointer 104, “to” button 106 on visual emailing interface 100. Onceselected, email server application 20 and/or email client application 22may render pop-up window 108. While pop-up window 108 is shown toinclude only the names of seven email users, this is for illustrativepurposes only and is not intended to be a limitation of this disclosure,as the number of email users included within pop-up window 108 may beincreased or decreased depending on the design criteria and user need.User 46 may select, e.g., via on-screen pointer 104, the email users forreceiving email message 102. Accordingly, for example, email message102, regarding marketing team action items, may be directed to emailusers who are members of the marketing team, e.g., user 48 and user 50.

Email client application 22 (alone or in combination with email sharingprocess 10 and/or email server application 20) may enable user 46 tosend email message 102 to the above-described intended email users. Viaemail client application 22 (alone or in combination with email sharingprocess 10 and/or email server application 20), user 46 may send email102 to user 48 and user 50, as defined within “to” field 110 of emailmessage 102, e.g., by selecting, via on-screen pointer 104, “send”button 112. Upon user 46 selecting “send” button 112, email clientapplication 22 (alone or in combination with email sharing process 10and/or email server application 20) may send email 102 to the intendedemail users, e.g., user 48 and user 50.

As discussed above, upon selecting “send” button 112, email message 102from user 46 may be sent to e.g., user 48 and user 50. However, an emailmessage was not sent to user 52, who was not included as a recipient ofemail message 102. Assume for illustrative purposes that user 52 is anew employee of Company X and, unfortunately, many users forget toinclude user 52 on emails. Further, assume that user 46, user 48, user50, and user 52 all work within the same marketing group of Company X.Therefore, user 52 should most likely receive the emails that user 46,user 48 and user 50 receive. Additionally, assume that user 48 is thementor of user 52, who is a new hire of Company X and mentee of user 48.

Referring also to FIG. 3 and as discussed above, email sharing process10 may allow for the establishment 150 of a trust relationship between afirst email user (user 52) and at least a second email user (user 48).Email sharing process 10 may automatically propagate 152 email messagesfor the second user (e.g., user 48) to the first user (e.g., user 52)based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.

Once a trust relationship is established 150 between the two users (e.g.user 48 and user 52), email sharing process 10 may allow one or more ofthe users, an administrator, or the like, to define 154 one or morepropagation preferences (to be discussed below in greater detail) thatmay allow for the automated propagation 152 of email messages from,e.g., user 48 to user 52. Since, as discussed above, user 52 is thementee of user 48, it may be desirable for mentee user 52 to receive thesame emails as mentor user 48. Accordingly, it may be desirable for all(or some) of the email messages received by user 48 to be automaticallypropagated 152 (e.g., be forwarded) to user 52, thus allowing user 52 toreview and (if desired) respond to one or more of the email messageswhich user 48 has received. Further, it may be desirable for user 52 toreceive all (or some) of the email messages that are sent by user 48.

When establishing 150 a trust relationship between e.g. user 48 and user52, email sharing process 10 may receive 156 a request from the firstuser (e.g., from user 52), requesting that the second user (e.g., user48) grant permission for at least a portion of user 48's email messagesto be automatically propagated 152 to user 52. Further, whenestablishing 150 the trust relationship, email sharing process 10 mayallow user 48 to grant permission 158 for at least a portion of hisemail messages to be automatically propagated 152 to user 52.

For example, if user 52 would like to have email messages of user 48automatically propagated 152, user 52 may send a request (e.g., whichmay be received 156 by email sharing process 10, and forwarded to user48) that user 48 grant permission for at least a portion of emailmessages to be automatically propagated 152 to user 52. Accordingly, andreferring also to FIG. 4, email sharing process 10 may render (alone orin conjunction with one or more of email client application 24 and/oremail server application 20) request window 200 that, e.g., informs user48 that user 52 would like to receive at least a portion of the emailmessages of user 48. Further, prior to user 48 granting 158 permissionto user 52, no such email messages will be automatically propagated 152to user 52. If user 48 finds this trust relationship acceptable, user 48may enter into the trust relationship by selecting “accept” button 202.In the event that user 48 selects, via on-screen pointer 104, “accept”button 202, email sharing process 10 may render propagation preferencedefinition window 204 that allows user 48 to define 154 propagationpreferences (to be discussed below in greater detail) concerning whichemail messages may be automatically propagated 152 to user 52.

Additionally, trust relationships need not be unidirectional. Forexample, a bidirectional trust relationship may be established betweenuser 48 and user 52 in which all (or a portion of) email messages ofuser 48 may be automatically propagated 152 to user 52 and all (or aportion of) email messages of user 52 may be automatically propagated152 to user 48.

Additionally, when establishing 150 a trust relationship between thefirst user (e.g., user 52) and the second user (e.g. user 48), emailsharing process 10 may transmit 160 an offer to the first user (e.g.,user 52) for at least one email message to be automatically propagated152 from the second user (e.g., user 48). Further, when establishing 150the trust relationship, email sharing process 10 may receive 162 anacceptance from the first user (e.g., user 52) for at least one emailmessage to be automatically propagated 152 from the second user (e.g.,user 48).

For example and referring also to FIG. 5, if user 48 would like toautomatically propagate email messages to user 52, user 48 may make anoffer (e.g., via email sharing process 10 and/or email serverapplication 20) that at least a portion of user 48's email messages beautomatically propagated 152 to user 52. Accordingly, email sharingprocess 10 may transmit 160 user 48's offer of email propagation to user52. For example, email sharing process 10 (alone or in conjunction withemail client application 28 and/or email server application 20) mayrender offer window 250 that, e.g., informs user 52 that user 48 wouldlike to propagate at least a portion of user 48's email messages to user52. If user 52 finds this trust relationship acceptable, user 52 mayenter into the trust relationship by selecting, via on-screen pointer104, “accept” button 252. In the event that user 52 selects, viaon-screen pointer 104, “accept” button 252, email sharing process 10 mayrender propagation preference definition window 254 that may allow user52 to define 154 propagation preferences (to be discussed below ingreater detail) concerning which email messages may be automaticallypropagated 152 to user 52. Further, prior to email sharing process 10receiving 162 user 52's acceptance of email message propagation fromuser 48, no such email messages will be automatically propagated 152 touser 52.

In addition to automatically propagating email messages to one or moreindividual users, an email recipient may wish to automatically propagateemail to groups of users. For example, a supervisor may wish topropagate email to his entire team. Email sharing process 10 mayestablish 150 a trust relationship between the supervisor and themembers of his team, either via the above-discussed offer-acceptancemechanism (e.g., wherein the various members of the team mustaffirmatively accept the offer to receive email from the supervisor),and/or may establish 150 the trust relationship based upon thesupervisors hierarchical status relative to his team (e.g., which may bediscerned from a corporate directory, such as an LDAP directory that mayinclude title, rank/pay grade, and/or other information denotingrelative hierarchical position). As such, a trust relationship may beestablished 150 between the supervisor and his team (e.g., which may bedefined as individuals reporting to the supervisor). As such, changes inthe supervisor's team (e.g., as people are added to the team and/orleave the team) may be automatically reflected in the established 150trust relationship. For example, a new member of the team may bereflected in the LDAP directory as an individual who reports to thesupervisor. As such, email sharing process 10 may establish 150 a trustrelationship between the new member of the team and the supervisor,e.g., without the need for the supervisor to take any action relative tothe new member. As discussed below, the supervisor may define 154propagation preferences, e.g., which may, at least in part, determinewhich emails may be forwarded to the supervisor's team (e.g., propagateall email from client ABC).

As discussed above, when establishing 150 a trust relationship betweene.g. user 48 and user 52, email sharing process 10 may enable the usersto define 154 at least one propagation preference. The at least oneemail message may be automatically propagated 152 based upon, at leastin part, the at least one propagation preference. Accordingly, emailsharing process 10 may allow user 48 and/or user 52 to define 154propagation preferences concerning the manner in which email messagesare automatically propagated 152 between the users.

For example, email sharing process 10 may allow user 48 and/or user 52to define 154 propagation preferences based upon, at least in part, anattribute of the at least one email message. Attributes of the at leastone email message may include, but are not limited to, for example,attributes relating to individuals associated with the email (e.g.,sender, recipients, carbon copy recipients, or the like), email status(e.g., high priority, confidential, restricted distribution, and thelike), categorization of the email (e.g., based upon a tag associatedwith the email, such as “personal,” “marketing,” or the like; and/orbased upon a subject of the email, discerned from the subject field ofthe email, or from text of the email).

For example, one or more of user 48 and user 52 may select, viapreference definition windows 204, 254, respectively, to automaticallypropagate 152 all email messages except those indicated as beingconfidential. While preference definition windows 204, 254 are onlyshown including a single email attribute-based propagation preference(namely “all except confidential”), this is only intended forillustrative purposes, and should not be construed as a limitation ofthis disclosure, as the number and nature of email attribute-basedpropagation preferences may vary according to user need and designcriteria. For example, email sharing process 10 may allow user 48 and/oruser 52 to define category-based propagation preferences (e.g., basedupon, at least in part the subject field of the email message, and/orkey words within the body of the email message, and/or tags associatedwith the email). Accordingly, propagation preferences may be defined 154concerning specific topics or subjects (e.g. marketing, companyadministration, meetings, etc.), such that email messages adhering tocertain topic-defined criteria may be e.g. filtered prior totransmission or filtered upon receipt.

Additionally, email sharing process 10 may allow user 48 and/or user 52to define 154 propagation preferences based upon, at least in part, anattribute of an original sender of the at least one email message. Forexample, email sharing process 10 may allow user 48 to define 154 (e.g.,via a pull-down menu, or the like, in preference definition window 204)a propagation preference that automatically propagates 152 all emailmessages to user 52 except email messages from user 52's supervisor, oremail messages from Betsy Bodoin or Max Burkhard who are personalfriends of user 48. Further, if the established 150 trust relationshipis a bidirectional relationship, email sharing process 10 may allow user52 to define 154 (e.g., via a pull-down menu, or the like, in preferencedefinition window 254) one or more propagation preferences thatautomatically forwards to user 48 email messages except those from JohnBrowning, Tom Coleman, and Seth Pressman, who are all members of thementee group to which user 52 was assigned when he was hired by CompanyX.

In addition to defining 154 propagation preferences to automaticallypropagate 152 email messages from one or more individual users, user 48and/or user 52 may define 154 a propagation preference to automaticallypropagate 152 all email messages sent from a defined group of usersand/or included a defined group of users as recipients. Such groups ofusers may include, for example, email distribution groups (i.e., whichmay be defined by an individual user, a system administrator, orsystem-wide, e.g., in a corporate directory such as an LDAP directory),organizational groups (e.g., a corporate departments which may bedefined in a corporate directory such as an LDAP directory), and/orgroups based upon one or more user attributes (e.g., title,organizational connection, rank/pay grade, etc.), which may, forexample, be discerned based upon, at least in part, information whichmay be contained in a directory, such as a corporate LDAP directory.

In addition/as an alternative to the above-described groups of usersthat may be based upon, at least in part, groups and/or attributesdefined within an LDAP directory, email sharing process 10 may allowpropagation preferences to be defined 154 based upon, at least in part,a social network defined for one or more of the first email user and thesecond email user. The social network for the first email user and/orthe second email user may include those individuals with whom therespective email users interact. Such interactions may include, but arenot limited to, a history of communications across various communicationchannels (e.g., email, instant messaging, telephone, and the like),inclusion on the email users respective instant messaging buddy list,attendance at the same meetings (e.g., as indicated by commonlyscheduled events in respective calendaring applications), workingtogether on the same projects, and so on. Various interactions of therespective email users may be monitored, and a social network definedby, various social networking applications and/or suites, such as, forexample IBM Lotus Connections, Microsoft SharePoint®, Facebook®,LinkedIn®, MySpace®, Twitter® (SharePoint is a registered trademark ofMicrosoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both;Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. in the UnitedStates, other countries, or both; Linkedln is a registered trademark ofLinkedIn, Ltd. in the United States, other countries, or both; MySpaceis a registered trademark of MySpace, Inc., in the United States, othercountries, or both; Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc.in the United States, other countries or both).

For example, user 48 and/or user 52 may define 154 a propagationpreference to automatically propagate 152 all email messages sent from adefined group of users and/or including a defined group of users asrecipients, in which the group of users is based upon, at least in part,a social network defined for user 48 and/or user 52. The group of usersmay include a subset of the social network defined for user 48 and/oruser 52. For example, the group of users may only include those peoplewithin the social network that also work for the same company as user 48and user 52, that have a specified degree of closeness to user 48 and/oruser 52 (e.g., who communicate with user 48 and/or user 52 with aspecified frequency), or the like.

Further, while the above-discussed propagation preferences concernsender-side propagation preferences that filter the outgoing emailmessages stream, other configurations are possible and are considered tobe within the scope of this disclosure. For example, email sharingprocess 10 may allow user 48 and/or user 52 to define 154 receiver-sidepropagation preferences that filter the incoming email message stream.For example, suppose user 48 failed to define 154 the above-describedpropagation preference in which email messages from Betsy Bodoin or MaxBurkhard are filtered prior to being automatically propagated 152 touser 52, user 52 may define 154 a receiver-side propagation preferencethat filters email messages from Betsy Bodoin and Max Burkhard uponreceipt by user 52.

While preference definition windows 204, 254 are only shown includingone sender-based preference (namely to automatically propagate all email“except from”), this is for illustrative purposes only and should not beconstrued as a limitation of this disclosure, and the number and natureof sender-based preferences included within preference definitionwindows 204, 254 may vary according to user need and design criteria.Further, while email sharing process has been described as allowingemail attribute-based, and sender-based preferences to be defined, thisis also only intended for illustrative purposes. The number and natureof parameters that may be considered for defining automatic propagationpreferences may vary according to user need and design criteria.Additionally, chaining preferences may also be implemented, including“and”, “or”, and/or “not” statements. For example, email sharing process10 may automatically propagate 152 email including: Tom Smith AND SusanJones as recipients OR including Client ABC in the email messagesubject. Other variations of propagation preferences utilizing “and”,“or”, “not” statements may also be defined 154. Propagation preferencesmay also be defined 154 utilizing email attributes other than emailrecipients. For example, propagation preferences may be defined 154based upon, at least in part, email subject, originating domain, emailpriority, time/date during which propagation should occur, and the like.

Additionally, email sharing process 10 may allow user 48 and/or user 52to define 154 propagation preferences based upon, at least in part, anevent, status, or the like. For example, user 48 may define 154 apropagation preference to automatically propagate 152 email when user 48has set an email out of office notification, e.g., via email clientapplication 24. As such, whenever an email is sent to user 48, emailclient application 24 may automatically sent a reply to the sender,alerting the sender that user 48 is out of the office (e.g., and mayalso include an indicator of when user 48 plans to return to theoffice). Based upon the defined 154 propagation preference toautomatically propagate 152 email to user 52 when user 48 has set anemail out of office notification, whenever user 48 has set the email outof office notification, email sharing process 10 may automaticallypropagate 152 email sent to user 48, to user 52 (e.g., who may be a peerof user 48 and may attend to important email as user 48's proxy).

Email sharing process 10 may determine 164 if the at least one emailmessage is a duplicate email. For example, user 52 may have multipletrust relationships with other email users. Accordingly, if two or moreof the other email users receive the same email message, email sharingprocess 10 may determine 164 that the email message to be automaticallypropagated 152 is a duplicate and only one copy of the email may bepropagated 152 to user 52. For example, the email may be automaticallypropagated 152 to user 52 from only a single user (e.g., user 48) withwhom user 52 has a trust relationship. Additionally/alternatively, whilea copy of the email message may be automatically propagated 152 to user52, email sharing process (e.g., in conjunction with email clientapplication 28) may only display a single copy of the propagated emailin user 52's email inbox, and/or indicate that additional copies areduplicates.

Email sharing process 10 may maintain a record of the variousestablished 150 trusted relationships, and the various rules andpreferences for automatically propagating 152 email to users.Additionally/alternatively, email sharing process 10 (alone or inconjunction with email server application 20 and/or one or more emailclient application 22, 24, 26, 28) may maintain a record emailtransactions (e.g., what email messages are automatically propagated 152to which users), for example, which may include email sharing process 10receiving reports of automatically propagated 152 email messages fromone or more of email server application 20 and/or one or more emailclient application 22, 24, 26, 28. As such email sharing process 10(alone or in conjunction with email server application 20 and/or one ormore email client application 22, 24, 26, 28) may maintain and/or becapable of generating an email distribution history. Accordingly, it maybe possible to determine what email content has been distributed towhich users. While possible mechanisms for tracking email distributionhave been described above, various additional/alternative mechanisms arepossible consistent with the present disclosure.

While the system is described above as automatically propagating 152,from user 48 to user 52, email messages received by user 48, otherconfigurations are possible and are considered to be within the scope ofthis disclosure. For example, the email messages automaticallypropagated 152, e.g. from user 48 to user 52, may include one or moreemail messages sent by user 48 (as opposed to an email message receivedby user 48). Accordingly, in the event that user 48 sends an emailregarding a project that users 46, 48, 50, 52 are all working on anduser 48 inadvertently forgets to include user 52 on the email, upon user48 sending the email message to users 48, 50, email sharing process 10may automatically propagate 152 to user 52 the email message sent byuser 46.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

Having thus described the invention of the present application in detailand by reference to embodiments thereof, it will be apparent thatmodifications and variations are possible without departing from thescope of the invention defined in the appended claims.

1. A method comprising: establishing a trust relationship between a first email user and at least a second email user; and automatically propagating at least one email message received by the second user to the first user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: receiving a request that the at least a second user grant permission for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated to the first user.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein establishing a trust relationship further includes: allowing the at least a second user to grant permission for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated to the first user.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: transmitting an offer to the first user for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated from the at least a second user.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein establishing a trust relationship further includes: receiving an acceptance from the first user for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated from the at least a second user.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: defining at least one propagation preference, and automatically propagating the at least one email based upon, at least in part, the at least one propagation preference.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one preference is based upon, at least in part, an attribute of an original sender of the at least one email message.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one preference is based upon, at least in part, an attribute of the at least one email message.
 9. The method of claim 1, further including determining if the at least one email message is a duplicate email.
 10. A computer program product residing on a computer readable medium having a plurality of instructions stored thereon which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: establishing a trust relationship between a first email user and at least a second email user; and automatically propagating at least one email message received by the second user to the first user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: receiving a request that the at least a second user grant permission for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated to the first user.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein establishing a trust relationship further includes: allowing the at least a second user to grant permission for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated to the first user.
 13. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: transmitting an offer to the first user for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated from the at least a second user.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein establishing a trust relationship further includes: receiving an acceptance from the first user for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated from the at least a second user.
 15. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein establishing a trust relationship includes: defining at least one propagation preference, and automatically propagating the at least one email is based upon, at least in part, the at least one propagation preference.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the at least one preference is based upon, at least in part, an attribute of an original sender of the at least one email message.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the at least one preference is based upon, at least in part, an attribute of the at least one email message.
 18. The computer program product of claim 10, further including determining if the at least one email message is a duplicate email.
 19. A computing system comprising: at least one processor; at least one memory architecture coupled with the at least one processor; a first software module executed on the at least one processor and the at least one memory architecture, wherein the first software module is configured to establish a trust relationship between a first email user and at least a second email user; and a second software module executed on the at least one processor and the at least one memory architecture, wherein the second software module is configured to automatically propagate at least one email message received by the second user to the first user based upon, at least in part, the trust relationship.
 20. The computing system of claim 19, further comprising a third software module executed on the at least one processor and the at least one memory architecture, wherein the third software module is configured to receive a request that the at least a second user grant permission for the at least one email message to be automatically propagated to the first user. 